New earthworms discovered
7 November 2008
Scientists have identified several new species of earthworms concluding the genus to be more complex than originally thought.
Work by researchers at Cardiff University on worm eating slugs and ground beetles identified the DNA of significant numbers of different species which look the same but do not interbreed. They could also have different roles within the soils and behave differently to outside forces such as agrochemicals or heavy metals.
Of the nine species of common earthworm from Britain and Europe examined, four were found to be made up of multiple species one of which was made up of at least three species in Britain and one additional species in central Europe.
Bill Symondson from Cardiff University said: ‘We need to establish for certain whether the different cryptic species play different roles in the ecology of our
agricultural land or have different tolerances to potential environmental stresses such as toxins, parasites, or extremes of temperature.’